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Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 172, NO. 8 | Monday January 24, 2011
HOOVER ST
ADAMS
VERMONT AVE
EXPOSITION BLVD
JEFFERSON BLVD
S NORMANDIE AVE
FIGUEROA
WEST
OF
CAMPUS
UNIVERSITY
PARK CAMPUS
EXPOSITION
PARK
Dynamic duo: Natalie Portman and
Ashton Kutcher on the big screen.
PAGE 5
Last effort: USC meets with NCAA
Infraction Appeals Committee.
PAGE 12
InDEX 2 · News Digest 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 8 · Classifieds 11 · Sudoku 12 · Sports
By Kate Mather
Daily Trojan
The west side — in the area
bounded by Vermont and
Normandie avenues, student
presence has grown significant-ly
in recent years, but the univer-sity’s
presence has not grown to
match.
Though Campus Cruiser oper-ates
in the neighborhoods west of
campus and the Dept. of Public
Safety patrols the streets, “yellow
jacket” security ambassadors or
cameras that provide an extra set
of eyes in other areas near USC
are noticeably absent.
That’s all about to change.
President C. L. Max Nikias told
the Daily Trojan last week that in
the coming months the univer-sity
will triple its off-campus se-curity
efforts, bringing security
ambassadors and cameras to the
west side for the first time.
“This is a major, major
improvement,” Nikias said. “It’s
been the university policy that we
don’t want to go west of Vermont,
but if our students are going
over there — and I feel we can’t
convince them not to — I felt it
was very important to increase
security.”
Forty-five regular cameras
will be added to the 27 already
in place, and the number of lo-cations
with cameras that can
capture images of vehicle license
plates will jump from five to 19.
Fifteen of the regular cameras
and 12 of the license plate camer-as
will be installed in the neigh-borhood
west of USC. All 12 of the
new security ambassadors will be
stationed west of campus.
The university has not yet fi-nalized
a bid on the project, so
final costs have not been de-termined,
but Nikias estimated
the price tag will be $3 million
per year. He anticipates that the
components will be in place by
the start of the upcoming school
year.
The initiative is a product of
several years of conversations
with students, faculty and staff,
explained Charlie Lane, asso-ciate
senior vice president for
Career and Protective Services,
but Nikias was the catalyst for ef-fecting
change.
“He challenged us to see what
we could do and come up with
more technology to reduce crime
even further,” Lane said. “That
was the genesis.”
Nikias was concerned about
safety in part because students
were concerned.
When students move off cam-pus,
most congregate north of
campus, in the area between
Jefferson and Adams. Many stu-dents
avoid the west side, where
lighting is sparse and rumors of
crime are prevalent.
But rumors, DPS Chief Carey
Drayton said, are often just that.
Though crime does occur on
the west side, the numbers are
not as high as students might
think. According to daily DPS re-ports,
no crime has been reported
taking place west of campus this
month.
Drayton said it’s all about
perception.
University to triple security efforts around campus
President C. L. Max Nikias said
neighborhood will be secure for
those who live west of campus.
| see west, page 3 |
Betsy Newman | Daily Trojan
Safety first · Twelve security ambassadors will be stationed west of
Vermont to heighten security in an area that was not previously patrolled.
Renee Cohn | Daily Trojan
By corinne gaston
Daily Trojan
SC Outfitters guides, students and members of
the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies
took part in a weekend-long Wilderness First Aid
training program at the Wrigley Institute on Catalina
Island this weekend.
The program was designed to teach students valu-able
first aid skills that they could use in the wild or
during outdoor activities. Students got the opportu-nity
to participate in simulated medical situations.
“It’s very hands-on, which is awesome, because
when we have the patients, we have no idea what’s
going on with them,” said Christine Sur, a junior ma-joring
in environmental studies.
Participants took a boat from Long Beach to
Catalina, where they settled into the dorms and took
a number of informative classes before heading out-side
for hands-on experience.
“The WFA is a largely scenario-based course, so a
lot of it is done outside in groups and it’s really excit-ing,”
said SC Outfitters President Jay Creech.
This was the first year USC has done a WFA pro-gram.
SC Outfitters tried to host the program before,
SC Outfitters travels
to Catalina island
for first aid retreat
USC students and members of the USC Wrigley
Institute participated in medical simulations.
| see outfitters, page 3 |
By david lowenstein
Daily Trojan
College students could re-ceive
up to $10,000 in tax cred-its
over the course of their edu-cation
as part of an extension of
the American Opportunity Tax
Credit.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim
Geithner and U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan unveiled
the revised AOTC on Thursday to
students and parents at Woodrow
Wilson Senior High School in
Washington, D.C.
The goal of the AOTC is to
make college financially attain-able
for all Americans and to al-leviate
the rising costs of a college
education.
Individuals making less than
$80,000 a year and married cou-ples
making less than $160,000 a
year will qualify for the AOTC, ac-cording
to the Internal Revenue
Service. Approximately 9.4 million
students with college students are
expected to qualify for the AOTC
this year, according to a Treasury
Department analysis.
The AOTC, which was initially
passed under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, is an expansion of the Hope
Credit.
Unlike the Hope Credit, which
only covered the first two years of
a college student’s education, the
AOTC covers four years of post-secondary
education with a maxi-mum
tax credit of $2,500 per year.
The AOTC also provides an allow-ance
for textbooks.
The AOTC is expected to cover
80 percent of tuition and fees at a
two-year public college or 30 per-cent
of tuition and fees at a four-year
public college, according to a
Treasury analysis.
Thomas McWhorter, executive
director of financial aid at USC,
sees the AOTC as positive news for
both current and prospective stu-dents
and their families.
“I certainly think that [the
AOTC] will help families,”
Students can receive up
to $10,000 in tax credits
The American Opportunity
Tax Credit aims to make
college financially attainable.
| see AOTC, page 2 |
American Opportunity
Tax Credit
Maximum Tax Credit of
$2,500/year
Average Tax Credit for a Family:
$1,900
Total Maximum Tax Credit over four years:
$10,000
Amount of Tax Credits Awarded to
Families with College Students:
$18.2 billion
Expected Number of
Families with College Students Affected:
9.4 million
Qualifications for Single Parents:
Income under $80,000
Qualifications for Couples:
$160,000
Covers 80%
of tuition at a two-year public institution
Covers 30%
of tuition at a four-year public institution
Renee Cohn | Daily Trojan

Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 172, NO. 8 | Monday January 24, 2011
HOOVER ST
ADAMS
VERMONT AVE
EXPOSITION BLVD
JEFFERSON BLVD
S NORMANDIE AVE
FIGUEROA
WEST
OF
CAMPUS
UNIVERSITY
PARK CAMPUS
EXPOSITION
PARK
Dynamic duo: Natalie Portman and
Ashton Kutcher on the big screen.
PAGE 5
Last effort: USC meets with NCAA
Infraction Appeals Committee.
PAGE 12
InDEX 2 · News Digest 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 8 · Classifieds 11 · Sudoku 12 · Sports
By Kate Mather
Daily Trojan
The west side — in the area
bounded by Vermont and
Normandie avenues, student
presence has grown significant-ly
in recent years, but the univer-sity’s
presence has not grown to
match.
Though Campus Cruiser oper-ates
in the neighborhoods west of
campus and the Dept. of Public
Safety patrols the streets, “yellow
jacket” security ambassadors or
cameras that provide an extra set
of eyes in other areas near USC
are noticeably absent.
That’s all about to change.
President C. L. Max Nikias told
the Daily Trojan last week that in
the coming months the univer-sity
will triple its off-campus se-curity
efforts, bringing security
ambassadors and cameras to the
west side for the first time.
“This is a major, major
improvement,” Nikias said. “It’s
been the university policy that we
don’t want to go west of Vermont,
but if our students are going
over there — and I feel we can’t
convince them not to — I felt it
was very important to increase
security.”
Forty-five regular cameras
will be added to the 27 already
in place, and the number of lo-cations
with cameras that can
capture images of vehicle license
plates will jump from five to 19.
Fifteen of the regular cameras
and 12 of the license plate camer-as
will be installed in the neigh-borhood
west of USC. All 12 of the
new security ambassadors will be
stationed west of campus.
The university has not yet fi-nalized
a bid on the project, so
final costs have not been de-termined,
but Nikias estimated
the price tag will be $3 million
per year. He anticipates that the
components will be in place by
the start of the upcoming school
year.
The initiative is a product of
several years of conversations
with students, faculty and staff,
explained Charlie Lane, asso-ciate
senior vice president for
Career and Protective Services,
but Nikias was the catalyst for ef-fecting
change.
“He challenged us to see what
we could do and come up with
more technology to reduce crime
even further,” Lane said. “That
was the genesis.”
Nikias was concerned about
safety in part because students
were concerned.
When students move off cam-pus,
most congregate north of
campus, in the area between
Jefferson and Adams. Many stu-dents
avoid the west side, where
lighting is sparse and rumors of
crime are prevalent.
But rumors, DPS Chief Carey
Drayton said, are often just that.
Though crime does occur on
the west side, the numbers are
not as high as students might
think. According to daily DPS re-ports,
no crime has been reported
taking place west of campus this
month.
Drayton said it’s all about
perception.
University to triple security efforts around campus
President C. L. Max Nikias said
neighborhood will be secure for
those who live west of campus.
| see west, page 3 |
Betsy Newman | Daily Trojan
Safety first · Twelve security ambassadors will be stationed west of
Vermont to heighten security in an area that was not previously patrolled.
Renee Cohn | Daily Trojan
By corinne gaston
Daily Trojan
SC Outfitters guides, students and members of
the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies
took part in a weekend-long Wilderness First Aid
training program at the Wrigley Institute on Catalina
Island this weekend.
The program was designed to teach students valu-able
first aid skills that they could use in the wild or
during outdoor activities. Students got the opportu-nity
to participate in simulated medical situations.
“It’s very hands-on, which is awesome, because
when we have the patients, we have no idea what’s
going on with them,” said Christine Sur, a junior ma-joring
in environmental studies.
Participants took a boat from Long Beach to
Catalina, where they settled into the dorms and took
a number of informative classes before heading out-side
for hands-on experience.
“The WFA is a largely scenario-based course, so a
lot of it is done outside in groups and it’s really excit-ing,”
said SC Outfitters President Jay Creech.
This was the first year USC has done a WFA pro-gram.
SC Outfitters tried to host the program before,
SC Outfitters travels
to Catalina island
for first aid retreat
USC students and members of the USC Wrigley
Institute participated in medical simulations.
| see outfitters, page 3 |
By david lowenstein
Daily Trojan
College students could re-ceive
up to $10,000 in tax cred-its
over the course of their edu-cation
as part of an extension of
the American Opportunity Tax
Credit.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim
Geithner and U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan unveiled
the revised AOTC on Thursday to
students and parents at Woodrow
Wilson Senior High School in
Washington, D.C.
The goal of the AOTC is to
make college financially attain-able
for all Americans and to al-leviate
the rising costs of a college
education.
Individuals making less than
$80,000 a year and married cou-ples
making less than $160,000 a
year will qualify for the AOTC, ac-cording
to the Internal Revenue
Service. Approximately 9.4 million
students with college students are
expected to qualify for the AOTC
this year, according to a Treasury
Department analysis.
The AOTC, which was initially
passed under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, is an expansion of the Hope
Credit.
Unlike the Hope Credit, which
only covered the first two years of
a college student’s education, the
AOTC covers four years of post-secondary
education with a maxi-mum
tax credit of $2,500 per year.
The AOTC also provides an allow-ance
for textbooks.
The AOTC is expected to cover
80 percent of tuition and fees at a
two-year public college or 30 per-cent
of tuition and fees at a four-year
public college, according to a
Treasury analysis.
Thomas McWhorter, executive
director of financial aid at USC,
sees the AOTC as positive news for
both current and prospective stu-dents
and their families.
“I certainly think that [the
AOTC] will help families,”
Students can receive up
to $10,000 in tax credits
The American Opportunity
Tax Credit aims to make
college financially attainable.
| see AOTC, page 2 |
American Opportunity
Tax Credit
Maximum Tax Credit of
$2,500/year
Average Tax Credit for a Family:
$1,900
Total Maximum Tax Credit over four years:
$10,000
Amount of Tax Credits Awarded to
Families with College Students:
$18.2 billion
Expected Number of
Families with College Students Affected:
9.4 million
Qualifications for Single Parents:
Income under $80,000
Qualifications for Couples:
$160,000
Covers 80%
of tuition at a two-year public institution
Covers 30%
of tuition at a four-year public institution
Renee Cohn | Daily Trojan